All this consumer talk, when the greatest consumer is time! I guess most of us have approx 600,000 hours from the cradle to the grave.A very few will go all out for awakening...or bust! A sprinkling of seekers will breakthrough or breakdown!Most of humanity are happy to consume, riding the peaks and troughs of our emotional wisdom or lack of.

A report by an international aid agency has found that most Australian fashion retailers do not know whether forced child labour is being used to make fabrics used in their garments.The Australian Fashion Report, which is the culmination of two years of research by Baptist World Aid, assessed the ethical practices of 41 companies and 128 clothing brands. Baptist World Aid Australia spokesman Gershon Nimbalker says that he is troubled by the findings in the report."If companies don't know, or don't care, who is producing their clothes, it's much harder to know whether workers are exploited or even enslaved," he said."While 39 per cent of companies knew all, or almost all, of the suppliers involved at the factory level, that number dropped dramatically to 7 per cent at the raw materials stage of production."

South Korean embassy officials and factory workers had direct contact with the security forces behind the violent dispersal of striking garment factory workers near the Cambodian capital last week.A motivation for the sudden confrontations outside Phnom Penh emerged via a South Korean embassy statement released, and now deleted, on Facebook.A two-week garment workers' strike was violently broken by police and military firing into protesting crowds on Friday, leading to the deaths of up to five people....In a wide-ranging investigative report by the GlobalPost news website, an administrative officer with South Korean-US garment maker Yakjin, which supplies products to Gap and Walmart among others, said the pleas of factory owners extended directly to the military....The emergence of the South Korean statement confirming representations between Seoul and Phnom Penh also raises questions about a fluke video snapshot recorded during the dispersal of the garment workers.A video posted on Facebook on January 2 shows several frames of an individual wearing the South Korean insignia and the same military fatigues as his Cambodian counterparts engaged in clearance operations.

Just to bring this story up to date: a year after the Rana Plaza factory collapse, "More than 150 global brands [including most Aussie retailers] have signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh which allows staff to stop work if their safety is under threat," while Walmart has created a much weaker accord. "Meanwhile, a fund created to compensate victims of Bangladesh's worst industrial disaster has made its first payments to those who lost family and were injured in the collapse," and, "So far retailers have pledged $16 million to the proposed $43-million ILO-managed trust fund," although, "In a statement, global labour group IndustriALL slammed global retailers for not putting enough money into the fund. "They share a collective responsibility for this profoundly unsustainable production model and its hazards," general secretary Jyrki Raina said."The whole report is here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-24/australian-clothing-retailers-yet-to-sign-factory-safety-accord/5408028.

The question of the age is; How can we bring about better conditions for workers in these sweat shops, and not simply cut off their access to a means of sustenance?

It seems anything that is effective is what power the workers take themselves. Perhaps it's not too different than when the US military "liberates" a country, or the people of a country liberate themselves.

Rickpa wrote:The question of the age is; How can we bring about better conditions for workers in these sweat shops, and not simply cut off their access to a means of sustenance?

The theory is that western companies have leverage over their suppliers and the companies' customers (us) have leverage over the companies. It does seem to be working, however imperfectly.

Rickpa wrote:It seems anything that is effective is what power the workers take themselves.

That's what happened through the Union movements in western countries in the 19th century, of course. I see no reason why it couldn't happen in developing nations now, but it can be additional to, not alternative to, the customer-driven campaign.

Could we not have an intergovernment convention on labour? On taxes, so that there isn't this race to the bottom and we are in the kind of a situation we are in now, when miners can credibly threaten us to move their investment eslewhere where it is even more profitable (lower taxes)?

Dan74 wrote:Could we not have an intergovernment convention on labour? On taxes, so that there isn't this race to the bottom and we are in the kind of a situation we are in now, when miners can credibly threaten us to move their investment eslewhere where it is even more profitable (lower taxes)?

I think (hope?) that we are gradually moving in that direction. At present we have the ILO http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/lang--en/index.htm and things like the UN convention on child labour http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/intlconvs.shtml. As for taxes, governments are gradually waking up to the fact that unless they cooperate, the multinationals end up paying no tax anywhere, so I think that's coming too - probably a bit slower. On the other hand, the dystopian vision we see in quite a lot of near-future SF, with the world controlled by a few enormous corporations trampling over the rights of everyone, is still a possibility.

March 2015. My core beliefs do not accord with Buddhism. I do not believe in mind. I believe in Atman (manifest spirit), and in Brahman (transcendental spirit) and that the Atman-spirit is (usually) cyclically reincarnated.

The poor definitely suffer but we in the west are impacted as well as most of the clothing is impregnated with formaldehyde, its a no win situation. You buy new clothing but have to wash it thoroughly before wearing because of the cancer causing chemicals in the fabric.

SumOfUS wrote:Nike says it respects its employees' rights to join a union 'without harassment, interference or retaliation.' But it fired nine workers in Indonesia for doing exactly that.The 'Nike Nine' formed a union at Nike's Chang Shin shoe factory to negotiate for better wages, better health insurance and the payment of promised bonuses. First management ignored their demands. Then when demonstrations began, the bosses started to intimidate them. Ultimately, they were all fired, and the police were called on the group's leader, Ato.It's ridiculous for Nike to allow its factories to crush workers' demands for decent pay and conditions. The global sportswear giant made $25.3 billion in revenue last year. It can afford to pay its employees a living wage.Tell Nike: reinstate the 'Nike Nine' with full back pay, and clean up your supply chain so that joining a union is genuinely respected.http://action.sumofus.org/a/nike-nine/After they were fired, Ato and the other eight workers set up camp outside the Chang Shin factory gates. They were soon joined by other union members for a peaceful solidarity demonstration. This was met by a heavy and intimidating security presence, including police, Indonesian military, factory security and hired thugs.This is blatant union-busting. Nike claims it is building a 'more empowered and equitable supply chain' but the reality for its workers on the ground is disempowerment, fear and intimidation.It's vital that we stand up for the Nike Nine, to show this hypocritical company that the world is watching, and it can no longer build its empire on exploitation.Sign the petition and call for the Nike Nine to get their jobs back.Thanks for all you do,Taren, Angus, Hanna, Jon and the rest of the team at SumOfUs

Eight years in prison and a $10 million fine. That’s what Andy Hall faces in only three days' time -- just for exposing multiple human abuses in a Thai pineapple factory, including child labor.Andy was brave enough to take on Natural Fruit Ltd, one of the biggest pineapple producers and exporters in Thailand, and reveal the company’s abuse of migrant workers. But now Natural Fruit Ltd. is striking back -- hard. Andy’s British passport has already been taken, and his bogus defamation trial starts in less than three days. But there’s still hope to secure his freedom.Natural Fruit’s president is also the chair of the Thai Pineapple Industry Association (TPIA) -- where global fruit giant Dole is an influential member. Dole could use its influence to push for the charges to be dropped -- but so far it has stood silent.Andy's trial starts on Tuesday -- call on Dole to take a stand, and demand the head of the Thai Pineapple Industry Association drops these bogus charges.